


The Perfect Pick

by QuickLikeLight



Series: Halestead [5]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Gen, Halestead, Mentions of Sexual Harassment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-16
Updated: 2017-02-16
Packaged: 2018-09-24 19:54:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9783386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuickLikeLight/pseuds/QuickLikeLight
Summary: The bakery’s usually quiet until about ten, but here’s Scrubs Cutie anyway, eating a banana nut muffin and drinking a cup of black coffee at half past eight, squinting at the paper.





	

“Is it done?” Cora asks abruptly, and some of the tension in Laura’s shoulders floods out as she leans back against the kitchen doors.

“Yeah. He’s out. The police confiscated his camera and -”

“Hey,” Cora’s at her side in the space of a breath, rubbing soft hands up Laura’s biceps. “You know this isn’t your fault, right? None of it’s your fault. Matt was a -”

“A jerk, I know.”

“No,” Cora shakes her head. “He wasn’t a jerk. Well, he was a jerk, too, but Matt was dangerous. He was harassing you. He took your picture without your permission. He needed to leave.”

“Der shouldn’t have had called the cops though -”

“Derek did what I should have done a month ago,” Cora growls before wrapping her sister in a hug that borders on too tight. “I made gingersnaps.”

“You hate gingersnaps.” Laura grins in spite of herself.

“Obviously. But you love gingersnaps and they’re for you, so get them out of my kitchen.” The little shove feels more playful than Cora has all week, and Laura graciously sweeps the platter of gingersnaps off the counter.

“You recognize this means we now have to find two replacement tenants?”

Cora scowls. “Two?”

“Matt was in 2B but Danny from 4A is moving downstairs, says he likes the layout better on the second floor. So that leaves 4A, and then 3B’s finally done having repairs made I think.”

“Christ, hasn’t it been like, four months since the twins moved out?” Cora’s eyebrows do that scowly-shock-y thing that Derek’s did when he’d actually seen 3B after the twins’ abrupt middle-of-the-night departure, and it surprises a laugh out of Laura.

“Like I said, two new tenants. Keep your eyes peeled.”

~*~

The guy - mid 20s, Latino, dark hair held back lightly with gel, cute nerdy glasses he only wore when perusing the newspaper - had been coming in for a week and Laura still hadn’t had a chance to talk to him. He always came during the morning rush, when patrons grabbed their breakfasts to go and Laura struggled to keep the pump pots full of coffee, and by the time the rush was over, she was generally too wiped out to worry about new guys in scrubs.

Saturdays are different, though. The bakery’s usually quiet until about ten, but here’s Scrubs Cutie anyway, eating a banana nut muffin and drinking a cup of black coffee at half past eight, squinting at the paper.

“Forget your glasses?” she asks, leaning heavily against the counter. Saturday mornings are boring unless Erica comes down and talks to her before class.

“Uh….?” Scrubs Cutie looks up, face adorable scrunched in confusion. “Oh! Yeah, actually, um, Stiles - my, uh, well, Stiles. He broke them yesterday.”

“Your…Stiles?” she asks, giggling.

“Sorry. Best friend,” he clarifies. “We were packing and he dropped a box on my nightstand. Didn’t realize they were there.”

“Packing, huh?” she asks, already calculating. He’s quiet, but friendly enough, and the outfit definitely points to some sort of stable employment. As does the fact that he ate almost an entire loaf of pumpkin bread on Thursday.

“Oh, yeah. We had been living in Beacon Heights but since neither of us works there it seems silly to stay.”

“Oh! Found a new place, then?” She tries to train her voice to casual, but the idea of filling Matt’s vacated space is exciting. If she cost Derek the rent -

He wouldn’t say she did, of course. Maybe  she shouldn’t say it either, even in her head. She can feel the heavy eyebrows of her siblings weighing on her even in her thoughts.

“Nah, not exactly. There’s not a lot of places in Beacon Hills to rent, you know? That’s why I’ve been reading the paper every day.” He smiles and waves the newspaper in her direction. “Scared I’m gonna have to move back in with my mom. Not that that’s a problem! I just… well. I’m 26. It would feel weird.”

“What’re you looking for? Two bedrooms? Three?” She ardently hopes for two. All the units in the building are more or less two bedrooms, though most of the seconds are small enough that they’re really only good for studios or offices. Still, if this Stiles is his best friend, maybe they wouldn’t mind being a bit cramped.

“Actually, uh, that’s sort of the thing. Stiles decided he wants to try living on his own?” he says it like a question and a fear at the same time. “So I’m sort of looking for… okay, please don’t think this is weird, alright?”

“Okaaaaaay,” she says, nodding and trying to keep her face judgement free.

“I’m trying to find two apartments really close together. We’ve lived together since we were eighteen and we’ve been best friends since we were five, and Stiles has never been on his own. I’m just a little worried about him, and I just broke up with my boyfriend like, three months ago, and -”

Two units. Best friends. _Boyfriend_ _._ Bingo.

“So you need two places, close together,” she stops him smoothly. “Same building, right? Would they have to be on the same floor?”

“Um… no?” He looks uncertain, but at least he’s not babbling. “They wouldn’t need to be. The same building would be fine, probably. Why? Do you know any place that’s got rooms for rent?”

Laura grins. “You just sit right here - uh… what’s your name?” _Scrubs Cutie_ probably won’t cut it for a rental agreement.

“Oh! My gosh, I’m so sorry. I’m Scott. Scott McCall.” He smiles like the sunshine and Laura is maybe a freaking genius.

“Hold on Scott. Let me go get my brother, Derek. We may just be able to help you out.”

Maybe with more than just an apartment.

**Author's Note:**

> Your feedback is valuable to all fic writers, and I'm no exception. If you enjoyed this story, please let me know.
> 
> Come find me on [tumblr](http://quicklikelight.tumblr.com).


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